


I'll cherish the moments time can't erase

by Mooresomore



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: 5 Times, Boys In Love, M/M, Valentine's Day, Winnipeg Jets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-06
Packaged: 2018-09-28 14:25:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10115741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mooresomore/pseuds/Mooresomore
Summary: He wanted to be Chase’s only Valentine, no matter how dumb the thought was.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cathedralhearts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cathedralhearts/gifts).



> Disclaimer: This is complete and total FICTION. That means it never happened and is completely untrue. In fact, this is so far from the truth that it isn’t even in the same country as the truth. I don’t own anybody, and I make no money off of this. I am not in any way implying said characters’ sexual identities.
> 
> **Special thanks go out to my beta, cathedralhearts. Without her, this fic wouldn't be half (ok, more like three-quarters) as good as it is. I appreciate all the encouragement and you getting me to delve deeper and "show", not "tell" the story. ;) Thank you so much!!**
> 
> These boys have always been my kryptonite (Chase especially, lol). And after this last week, I needed all the fluffy boys being dorks that I could get.
> 
> Stole the title from the Brantley Gilbert song "Fall Into Me". Alternate working title was "Let our kiss count the moments and hearts set the pace".

  * 2004



It’s Valentine’s Day and Eric was feeling slightly out of place. He had just moved to California, and there was no one he knew well enough to give a Valentine’s Day card to. So, he just settled on one of those 32-count classroom card boxes and gave one to everyone in the class (it was easier that way; he really was trying to fit in and didn’t want to cause any trouble. He was used to people only liking him because his family was rich; this time, Eric just wanted to be a “normal” kid).

Chase, on the other hand, had lived in California his whole life and was good friends with everyone, so they all got a cheesy card --Chase’s style). However, Chase was beyond curious about the new kid who just moved to town that nobody knew anything about besides the obvious- he was tall and shy.

It started like this: they opened cards during the class party and Eric was kind of disappointed not to see one from Chase, given that everyone else seemed to get one -- that is, until a poke to the shoulder made Eric look up. Chase was there with a card, beaming widely.

“This is for you,” Chase said, handing it to Eric. Eric opened it to find, “Do you want to be friends?” scribbled in Chase’s handwriting above the standard “Happy Valentine’s Day!” Hallmark message.

Eric smiled, his nerves at being new and weird disappearing almost instantly. “Yeah, sure!” Eric said, nodding furiously. They both laughed, and Chase sat down at the empty desk next to Eric. They spent the rest of the party talking about hockey, sharing Eric’s bag of Sweethearts. By the time the bell rang, Chase had invited Eric to try out for the school hockey team.

 

  * 2011



When Eric was sixteen, it was the first year that he and Chase were spending Valentine’s Day in separate places since Eric had moved to California. He usually enjoyed Valentine’s Day, but this year he was dreading it and wasn’t really sure why.  They had made plans to Skype, and Eric nervously waited for the notification to pop up that Chase was calling.

His younger brother Ty came into his bedroom to find Eric staring at the computer. “Hey, how’s Chase? You haven’t talked about him like, all day. This is “lover’s day” and all, isn’t it?”

Eric laughed, chucking a pillow at Ty’s head. “Fuck off. I think he’s fine. He’s actually supposed to Skype me soon.”

Ty rolled his eyes. “And that’s my cue to leave. Say hi for me before you two go all mushy-mushy on one another. And remember, mom and dad are in the kitchen.”

Eric flipped Ty the bird. “Nothing’s going to happen. It wouldn’t happen over Skype, anyway.”

“Ew, gross. TMI!” Ty gagged, backing out of the room. Eric made sure the door was shut, and nervouslessly fixed the sheets on his bed while he waited for the call.

All of a sudden, the Skype notification of a call started blaring. Eric scrambled to pick it up, nearly tripping over his bed in the process. “Hi!” he said, almost breathless.

“Hey,” Chase said, smile lighting up the screen. He looked tired though, and he was scrubbing a hand through his hair, like he’d just woken up. Eric could tell that Chase was in a motel room, and it hit Eric like a punch to the gut. They should be there together, playing on the same team like they’d always talked about. Doing things together, like pranking the rookies, or eating breakfast in bed, or being late to practice because they’d “overslept” again. They could be doing “couple” things, since they were in the same place (like dinner and a movie, or making out for hours- a guy could dream! _)_

“How’s your day been?” Eric asked instead, trying to steer his mind back onto ‘safe’ topics.

“Good. Me and the boys went out for Starbucks, and we have the game tonight. You? Anything exciting?” Chase leaned closer, and Eric could see right down his tank top. It made his chest pound a little too hard for comfort. He coughed, shifting awkwardly.

“Nah, just afternoon skate. I think a few of us are gonna hit up a movie or something.” Eric loved his life, but it seemed all the emptier without Chase around, bothering him to go skating or surfing, or to even lie around and talk about when they made the NHL.

“Cool.” There was a moment of silence, before Chase said, “Oh, wait a minute. I got something I want to show you.”

“Okay?” Eric said slowly, confused, but Chase was already out of view of the camera. He could hear rustling, like Chase was looking through a bag for something.

Sure enough, when Chase came back into view, he had a teddy bear. “I, uh, got you this. Next time we play, he’s all yours.” He laughed, looking a little embarrassed.

Eric shook his head, unable to stop his own smile. “That’s awesome. Thanks so much Chase. I have your gift here. I’m not going to be nice and show you what it is, though. I want you to be surprised.”

Chase pouted, sticking out his lower lip and crossing his arms. “And here I was, going to share my Sweethearts with you.”

Eric rolled his eyes. “Oh well. They’d probably be stale anyway by the time you got them here. To be honest, I hate those things anyway. Why do you think I shared them with you? Less for me.”

“And I thought it was because I was special.” Chase shook his head, laughing. “But good to know. More for me.” He paused for a moment, and leaned in a little closer.

“I miss you. It’s weird, not having you around all the time.” Chase finally said.

“I miss you too, man.” Eric said, his chest starting to hurt. It always did, whenever Chase said or did anything that made Eric wonder. He opened his mouth, about to speak, when his phone rang. “Shit, sorry. Looks like the boys are ready. I’ll catch you later?”

Chase nodded, a weird look on his face. “Yeah, sure.”

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Chase,” Eric smiled, holding his fist up to the screen for a bump.

Chase echoed the movement, making his screen shake a bit. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Eric.”

 

  * 2013



Chase should have known that the picture was going to get him in trouble; he just didn’t realize it was going to be the social media kind of trouble.

“What’s this?” Eric teased when Chase picked up the phone that night. “What happened to that ‘You’re the only one for me’ speech from this summer?”

“Uh...” Chase said, scrolling through his Instagram and Twitter feeds and-- _shit._ “Um, that wasn’t… I mean, I didn’t mean…”

“Chase, I’m kidding.” Eric said gently, trying to smile. He didn’t want to freak Chase out, but he was kind of hurt over it. He wanted to be Chase’s only Valentine, no matter how dumb the thought was. Eric was still insecure about why Chase was with him; all the girls coming up to Chase in public and hanging all over Chase always bothered him.

“Actually, you were supposed to be the only one who got that,” Chase said, shaking his head. “My bad, I’m so sorry if I ruined your day.”

“No, you didn’t.” Eric said. “Although, I must admit, the boys thought it was pretty good. They don’t know that we’re dating, but they got a kick out of the photo.”

“Oh sure. Joke at my expense.” Chase said, laughing. “I see how it is. See if I send you any pictures for the next year!”

“Would it help if I told you that’s my lock screen picture, and I really really love all the pictures you send me?” Eric asked. It would be a sin not to get any more of the dirty ones late at night, when they were both feeling lonely and sad at the distance.

“It helps a little, yeah.” Chase said. “Happy Valentine’s Day, babe.”

Eric smiled-- a soft, happy one. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

 

  * 2016



It was the first Valentine’s Day they were spending together since before they’d gone to the WHL, so Eric wanted to make sure everything was perfect. He spent hours agonizing over every little detail, down to the last heart iced on the cake.

When Chase walked into the dining room after Eric told him he could finally come home, he looked amazed at what was before him.

Eric spent so much time working on it to make sure things were perfect; Chase blew past sitting in the chair Eric had pulled out for him, and crushed Eric in a tight hug instead. He pulled back to kiss Eric, deep and wet, making him feel complete. He really did love his boyfriend, even when he wasn’t appreciating his professional seat pulling skills.

Chase pulled back, shaking Eric a little. “Thank you so much! This is so freaking perfect. I absolutely love it-- I love _you_!”

“Let’s see if you say that after you eat my cooking.” Eric teased, extracting himself from Chase’s grip and pushing him down into the chair.

“Well, the house is in one piece, and I don’t see any smoke or water damage, and I didn’t hear of any firetrucks coming, so I think we’re good.”

“Gee, thanks.” Eric walked back into the kitchen, flipping Chase the bird.

Dinner wasn’t horrible-- Eric had overcooked the chicken just a touch, but it was still edible, dessert was even better, but the best part was afterwards when Eric grabbed Chase’s hand and said, “Let’s go make up for all those years we didn’t get to spend Valentine’s Day together.”

And, well, Chase couldn’t argue with that.

 

  * 2017



Chase should have known that taking another rose picture was going to get him in trouble, but he did it anyway. He was really going to have to disable the feature that allowed him to post pictures to multiple places at once. At least this time, he had the ‘excuse’ of “Bachelor Monday”.

“Again? _Really_?” Eric said as soon as Chase walked in.

“Oops?” Chase settled on, once he figured out what Eric was talking about. “At least it’s a more plausible excuse this time around.”

“If you were a bachelor, then yeah. But for you now? Not gonna fly.”

“I’m _really_ sorry, baby?” Chase tried again, laying it on as thick as he could.

“Better, but still needs work...” Eric said, but there was laughter in his voice. He tried hard to modulate, but with Chase he couldn’t stay mad for long. It was such a losing battle.  

“Okay! I am _sorry_ I was such an idiot and posted a picture without being smart about it. But hey, that’s what happens when you love someone. You do stupid things, especially when it comes to Valentine’s Day.”

Eric sighed. “Well done. And I love you too... you know that, right?”

“Of course.” Chase scoffed. Eric was glad it wasn’t something he needed to reassure Chase with-- he had his own problems with confidence and jealousy when it came to Chase, he wasn’t sure if he could handle _both_ of them having issues.

“No, I mean… I really, crazily love you. As in... I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” Eric said, reaching into the cupboard above the microwave and pulling out a small box. He turned around and got down on one knee, Chase backed up against the wall, eyes wide. “I want it to be you and me forever. Like it has been since we were kids, all those years ago. Would you--”

“ _Yes! Oh my fucking God, yes!_ ” Chase exploded before Eric could finish  He tackled Eric to the ground, kissing him all over his face, laughing as Eric yelled, trying to push Chase off him so he could finish his extremely thoroughly prepared proposal.

“Chase, c’mon! You’re ruining it!” Eric whined, as Chase sat back, his curls crazy and the grin on his face so wide it looked painful.

“Gimme the ring,” Chase said, and Eric pulled it out of the box, biting his lip as he slid the plain platinum band along Chase’s tanned finger. Fuck, it looked _so good._

“C’mon, fiancé, let’s go celebrate the shit out of this occasion,” Chase said, sitting up and reaching down to pull Eric to his feet.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Eric said, pressing kisses along Chase’s neck, his fingers working on Chase’s belt.

“H-Happy Valentine’s Day,” Chase choked on a gasp, shoving Eric off him, running to get to their room first. Eric rolled his eyes and jogged after Chase, unable to help himself. Like always.

 

***

After Eric left a bunch of new bruises on Chase’s hips and chest, and Chase gave him a hickey that was going to take weeks to get rid of, Eric went out to get them some Timmy’s. It was their celebration meal, and he felt stupid happy. When Eric got back from getting them coffee, Chase grabbed him and posted a picture to his Instagram story of them grinning madly, holding up his hand to flash the brand new ring on his finger.

“There. I finally did a Valentine’s Day picture right, didn’t I?” he asked, looking to Eric.

“Yeah, I think you did.” Eric said, unable to stop his grin.


End file.
